Former leading New Zealand publisher and bookseller, and widely experienced judge of both the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Montana New Zealand Book Awards, talks about what he is currently reading, what impresses him and what doesn't, along with chat about the international English language book scene, and links to sites of interest to booklovers.

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Standing Room Only for 05/15/2016

05/15/2016

Standing Room Only for 05/15/2016

Standing Room Only is literally radio with pictures... and arts, theatre, film, comedy, books, dance, entertainment and music – all the things, in other words, that make life worth living.

The New Zealand International Comedy Festival is wrapping up in Wellington and Auckland but other parts of the country can now see many of the highlights as part of the festival's travelling Comedy Convoy. Zoe George, producer for RNZ Concert's Upbeat, enjoyed some playful repartee with the convoy's MC: French raconteur Marcel Lucont, performed by English comic Alexis Dubus. Marcel has a dry, deadpan and at times almost snobby charm that intrigued Zoe.May 15, 2016 02:47 pm

Is there anything you never leave home without? Bridget Reweti's upcoming exhibition at Corbyn's Estate of hand coloured photographs Carry On examines just that. She has recently returned from the annual Indigenous Visual and Digital Arts Residency at The Banff Centre in Canada where ideas around tourism permeated her photography. She is also staging separate exhibitions in Christchurch: Otakaro at The Physics Room, and Tirohanga at CoCA.May 15, 2016 02:40 pm

Pacific poet Tusiata Avia's new collection has been a long time in the making. Seven years in fact. And it wasn't until Tusiata finished Fale Aitu Spirit House that she realised, with some serendipity, there was a strong theme running through it... Hence the name.May 15, 2016 02:25 pm

Hungarian refugee Lili Kraus, who lived in New Zealand after the Second World War, played concerts in remote rural areas and helped professional musician's source good quality instruments. In 1959 she wrote a message on a Steinway piano - and that piano went on to become part of artist Michael Parekowhai's contribution to the 2011 Venice Biennale. Now Michael's big sister Cushla has looked into Lili's life and her contribution to this country's cultural scene over many years and sharing her research at a talk at Te Papa.May 15, 2016 01:48 pm

Every year during the Documentary Edge Festival, the Screen Edge Forum is held inviting film industry bods to come together and talk about their craft. This time one of the panels, Pacific Alliances, is looking at Australasia building better connections with the Pacific islands through a new organisation called the Pacific Alliance for Documentary and Interactive Storytelling (PADISA). Lynn Freeman spoke to Alex Lee from Documentary Edge, and Mareva Leu the co-ordinator of Tahiti documentary festival: Festival International Du Film Documentaire Océanien (FIFO).May 15, 2016 01:33 pm

Jodie Molloy's The Voice in My Head confronts the often contentious issue of abortion. Spanning a couple of centuries from Victorian times into the future, it tells five very different stories exploring the dilemmas of abortion, at the heart of which are themes of sexuality, motherhood, morality and loss. Jodie developed the play during a Creative Writing Masters at Cambridge University. Known for her work on the The Jaquie Brown Diaries and Go Girls this is Jodie's first solo theatre show, which she has both written and is directing.May 15, 2016 12:40 pm

"People of the Eye" is a play designed for the deaf and for hearing audiences. Created by Erin Siobhan Hutching it's based on her experiences growing up with her deaf sister, Sarah, in Christchurch. The production is being performed by the UK based Deaf and Hearing Ensemble, as part of the Now Festival of new plays at London's Yard Theatre. Erin talks about the genesis of the play.May 08, 2016 08:23 pm